Frank Licari was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer and was given two months to live.

That was 16 years ago.

Five years ago, still being treated for the cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, mycosis fungoides with Sézary syndrome, he was diagnosed with a virus in the brain, likely because his immune system was suppressed. Again, doctors predicted Licari had only weeks to live. Again, he dodged that prediction.

Licari died Thursday night at the age of 75.

“He beat all the prognoses. He was such a strong individual. He had strong faith and a strong disposition and we wanted to be with his family. There were a lot of forks in the road when he was told that this was ‘it.’ But even in his darkest hours, he would tell jokes. He didn’t want to leave us,” said his daughter, Christine.

“He was tenacious. He was relentless. Doctors stopped giving him timelines because he keep beating them.”

Symptoms of Licari’s illness include burning, itching skin. He covered up to avoid the sun and wore white gloves, but he never once used the word “cancer,” says his daughter, Joanne.

“He always said ‘my illness,’” she said. “I called him Champ. When he got knocked down, he got back up. He never gave in, he never gave up.”

Licari grew up in Little Italy on Balsam Street, one of seven siblings. He was an altar boy at St. Anthony’s for 20 years and thought about becoming a priest until he met Madeleine Dagenais at an outdoor skating rink when they were both 13 years old. Madeleine was at first unimpressed — Licari had pushed her off a sleigh during a sleigh ride and he had to pour on the charm to win her over.

He was also an avid hockey player and has been recruited by the Toronto Maple Leafs and the San Francisico Golden Seals. Licari was a scrappy player, and Madeleine was disturbed by the violence. “He loved her so much, he gave it up for her,” says Joanne.

Licari worked for almost 40 years at the Ottawa Citizen, started in the composing room, then moving into human resources. He was also a tireless volunteer in the Ridgemont community, where he was president of the community association and coordinated hockey and skating programs and organized street dances, community garage sales, and winter carnivals. After he was no longer able to help shovel the neighbourhood outdoor rink, Licari marshalled volunteers to do the job. Christine and her husband Everett Ethier and Joanne and her husband Chris Brownstein lived only a few doors away.

In 2010, a park bounded by Vancouver, Banff and Kitchener avenues and Cochrane Street was named Frank J. Licari Park.

In 2012, Mayor Jim Watson presented the Mayor’s City Builder Award to Licari for his years of service to his community and his dedication to many organizations including the Ridgemont Community Association, Villa Marconi, and the United Way.

Even after his diagnosis, Licari continued to play baseball until the virus rendered him legally blind. He went to the gym and took up squash in the hopes it would help restore his eyesight.

Christine once asked her father how he managed to beat the odds. He replied that it was like a puzzle with a lot of pieces that had to come together — faith, family and friends, and good medical care. Licari was with his oncologist, Dr. Richard Van der Jagt at The Ottawa Hospital, for all 16 years of his illness.

In a 2013 interview with the Citizen, Licari said doctors were mystified by his long-term survival.

“I’m the human guinea pig. At one point, there were 21 of us who had a rare strain of the disease (mycosis fungoides) and then I was the sole survivor.”

Christine said her father urged everyone to live their lives to the fullest, to always be positive and let go of the negative. “He would say ‘If you say you can do it, you are right. If you say you can’t do it, you’re right as well.’ ”

A funeral mass is to be held at Blessed Sacrament Parish on Thursday, which would have been Frank and Madeleine Licari’s 54th anniversary.

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